The UK Gambling Commission published May 2021 data for online-based operators, showing that their gross gambling yield (GGY) was £533.4m, a 4.8% drop compared to April this year.
The data reflected the input from the most noteworthy licensed operators representing 80% of the UK gambling market. According to the report, the GGY from slots was £211.2 million for May. This is an increase of 4.5% compared to April and 14.6% over the same month in 2020.
All other casino games have been less profitable, with £65.3 million, representing an 8% month-to-month drop and a 16.2% drop year-to-year.
Poker stands out as the game with the most significant year-to-year drop of 60.1% and 12.9% lower GGY compared to April at £7.3 million.
Betting has earned £238.8 million in May 2021, a month-to-month drop of 10.7%.
However, it is still a significant increase compared to May 2020, when sports betting was limited due to restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
GGY for virtual betting in May 2021 was 5.1% smaller compared to April and significantly lower than in May last year (35.8%).
The biggest record-breaker in May 2020 was esports betting, netting around £4.6 million. However, in 2021 it dropped to £2 million in May, having a slight uptick, compared to April’s £1.9 million.
There were 3.1 million active slots players in the UK during May 2021, a 25.9% year-on-year increase.
All other gaming activities had 2.2 million players, 11.2% more than in May 2020.
The effects of reduced restrictions and increased frequency of sports events have brought in 5.1 million players in May. This has reduced the number of users that were betting on virtual sports by 18% to 236,061.
Furthermore, the number of active poker players has dropped by 49.4% to 282,175.
The main conclusion of the UKGC survey was that the pandemic has caused a minor number of players to reassess their financial expenses. However, most players didn’t change their gambling habits, and those that did simply reduced them somewhat.
Around 50% of the surveyed players said that having the option to play anywhere and having more leisure time during the pandemic made gaming easier, regardless of whether it was in established or new online gambling venues.
